Welcome to the Squadra di Vecchi Tori Blog

We are a group of ordinary bike riders who live in or around the suburb of Malvern, Melbourne, Australia and ride under the name ‘Squadra di Vecchi Tori’ (Team of Old Bulls). Why the name? Because Molteni and Gewiss were already taken and a few of our riders are involved in the beef industry. The rest of us like being associated with signs of virility.

In March 2010, 16 of our crew each rode 527ks in 24 hours during the annual Murray to Moyne cycling event held in Victoria. We raised over $60,000 for 2 charities close to the hearts of 2 of our riders – Learning for Life and The Unicorn Foundation. Links below.

You can also find us at www.twitter.com/m2m500.

This blog will document some of our rides, contain tips, commentary, banter and a distraction for all.

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This evening I was indulging in a favorite pasttime, getting my haircut and shooting the breeze with my mate Eddie about bikes etc when the topic of New York came up – Eddie has just returned from a 2 week trip to the Big Apple and we spent most of the time discussing the merits of the Best City in The World. I had urged him beforehand to do what I did on my last visit in November 2008 and rent a bike to get around. Unfortunately his plans didn’t allow this but in the course of the conversation I was overcome with a distinct sense of nostalga for that trip.

I had travelled to NYC for a friend’s wedding, unexpectedly unaccompanied at the last minute by Mrs Kiwicyclist, and left to my own devices on a 5 day bender. As I was on my own I had decided to make sure I got on a bike while I was there. As luck would have it I found a hotel that had bikes to rent for $5/day. I had researched various options and consulted Andy W (www.fyxomatosis.com) who had worked there as a bike courier – his advice was succinct and to the point – ‘get a bike, go explore and get lost’ – which is pretty much what I did.

I spent the better part of most of the days (and some nights) meandering around the backstreets and byways of lower and mid Manhatten discovering many great spots along the way – how much better is life experienced in a foreign city by bike? It cannot be beaten in my view. I had my first experience travelling out at night on the bike to go to dinner, pedalling across from the Hudson River to midtown to catch up with everyone at a restaurant and then heading downtown to Soho to a bar after to catch up with friends.

The bike – more ‘beach boys hotrod’ than ‘gangsta speed weapon’ and perfect for getting around the Big Apple – singlespeed, coasterbrake, basket:

What made it so good was that New York has an incredible network of bike paths across most major roads, clearly marked in green with a separate curb at most intersections so that when you pull up to the lights there is a barrier between you and the cars – safe and sensible. When you throw in the extensive one way system it feels even safer. It impressed upon me how good cycling as a means of transport can be even in a congested city such as New York where the sheer numbers of bike riders has a certain critical mass and where the city provides well designed cycling infrastructure that works – it felt safer on their roads than it does commuting in Melbourne and changed my mind on how far I think we have to go here before our roads are as friendly to cyclists as they are in New York.

I also experienced a ‘six degrees of separation’ moment on the penultimate day of my trip – I had spent most of the day riding around exploring the Brooklyn area after negotiating the Brooklyn bridge and as the late afternoon wore on and I was making my way back up towards Chinatown I decided on impulse to head over to Williamsburg via the Williamsburg Bridge. Followers of bikesnob http://bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com/ will know that Williamsburg is the first stop on the “fixed gear hipster silk route” and I wasn’t disappointed. It is a low rise area populated by bars and restaurants and bikes, lots and lots of bikes. While enjoying a late afternoon beer a couple of guys pulled up on two beautifully maintained classic steel bikes – which caused me a ‘retroboy’ moment of excitement. I mentioned to one of them that I had a friend in Melbourne “who was a Merckx fanatic that used to work as a courier here and could I take a couple of shots of the bikes for him ” to which they said- ‘that must be ‘ozzie Andy, tall red head guy – yeah we know him, he used to race us at Prospect Park – man that guy used to kick our asses..say hi from us” – what are the chances?

Williamsburg bridge:

Williamsburg retroboys:

Trackstar – serious vintage and fixed gear bike porn and occupied by the ShifterDan of NYC – Zac, wheelbuilder to the stars:

NYC:

Meatpacking district:

I’ve ridden bikes in a few cities – London (terrifying), Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide Auckland and New York to name a few and the clear winner is New York – the best bike city in the world? – a big call but one that is getting it ‘right’ for the humble commuter/tourist.